Reducing Bloated Health Care Costs Through Price Competition
Much of the wasteful extravagance of US health care comes from the secrecy that surrounds its pricing. You wouldn't think of buying a car or a house or even a bar of soap without knowing what is the price and calculating its value to you. How about using the Internet to introduce price competition? (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 10, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Psoriasis
Both morphology and location favor the diagnosis of psoriasis. The presence of nail pitting, and a strongly positive family history for psoriasis, confirmed the diagnosis. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 10, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Type 2 Diabetes and Medication Adherence: Where is the Disconnect?
A medication discontinuation rate of 80% to 90%? This family physician asks, "Why?" and suggests that the answer lies very close to home--ie, in the examination room. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 10, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Ablation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation: A Role for MRI in Predicting Success?
Pulmonary vein ablation has not gained recognition as a "cure" for atrial fibrillation so a new approach would be welcomed. Or, perhaps there's a way to sharpen an old tool. More, here. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 10, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Am I Responsible if You Don’t Fill Your Medications?
Under pay-for-performance medicine, clinicians will eventually be judged and paid based on the percentage of their patients who fill scripts and take them as directed. Here, an example of how it might, or might not, work. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 9, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Insect Bites
These widely scattered, dome-shaped pruritic inflammatory papules suggest insect bites. A biopsy showed mixed dermal infiltrate consisting of lymphocytes and eosinophils, consistent with an arthropod assault. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 9, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Dabigatran May Pose Excess Risk in Patients With Mechanical Valves
Patients with mechanical heart valves may be the last group considered for transition from warfarin to a novel anticoagulant; for now, at least, not to dabigatran. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 9, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Influenza and Ischemic Heart Disease: Does Vaccination for One Help Prevent the Other?
This study uncovers an unrecognized association between myocardial infarction and flu season. It also makes another interesting discovery. More, here. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 9, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Statins Beneficial for Primary Prevention in the Elderly
Results of this study may have primary care providers looking more carefully at their elderly patients who have not had a previous cardiac event as potential candidates for statin therapy. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 9, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Managing HIV Occupational Exposures: Updated Guidelines
Occupational exposure to HIV leads to an estimated 1000 HIV infections among healthcare workers world wide every year. Here, the steps critical to ensure rapid intervention. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 6, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Suspect Skin Lesions—A Photo Quiz
Patients often present with skin lesions that are suggestive of skin cancer. Is it or isn’t it? This week’s photo quiz tests your knowledge of several possible cancerous presentations. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 6, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Emergency Contraception: A Win-Lose Proposition?
Emergency contraception is available in drugstore aisles nationwide but the easy access, some think, may be at the expense of opportunities for important family planning education. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 5, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Anti-HIV Drug Efficacy: Are There Sex Differences?
Women account for nearly half of the HIV-infected population but are sorely under-represented in clinical trials of antiretroviral agents. Here, how analysis of an expansive FDA dataset helped answer the question. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 5, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Actinic Keratosis
The differential diagnostic possibilities for this tender nodule included hypertrophic actinic keratosis, keratoacanthoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and verruca. The possibility of squamous cell carcinoma dictated removal with histologic examination. (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 5, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Odd Skin on the Shins: Your Diagnosis?
Skin eruptions, MS risk, and a pain in the back: 5 new questions—your Dxs? (Source: Consultant Live)
Source: Consultant Live - September 5, 2013 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news